As You Wish Dining - Opinions, Comments and Discussions

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We too like traditional dining with a set table. In fact we originally booked our upcoming Alaska cruise on the Noordam for the end of August and when we found out the upper main dining was booked we moved the cruise up one week to the first week of Sept. to accomodate getting this seating.

We like to sit with the people we travel with at a table for 4 or the amount of our cruisemates for that particular sailing and we opt for a table for 2 when we travel alone. It is not that we are unsocial, we prefer not to have to make dinner conversation with strangers when we are on vacation. Now don't get me wrong, we are very social people and like to engage in many conversations with our fellow guests, we just opt for dining in this manner. As other posters state "as you wish" should be just that, sit with who you want, when you want, and with whom you want. It is a vacation after all and when on vacation your wants and needs should be indulged.

Barbara

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Ruth & Sharon, I'm not a solo traveler, but I certainly emphasize with you. Sharon, it was very courageous of you to take a cruise by yourself for the 1st time. I can definitely understand why you would want traditional dining. We haven't cruised much recently, but did two wonderful cruises years ago & I still remember the wonderful people at our table for 10.

I have a hearing loss, so it is difficult for me to understand people in noisy DR's, but we're still going to try a table for 8 on our upcoming Oosterdam cruise in December. My husband is very social & there's a very social person lurking in me also. It is much easier with the same people every nite rather than adjust to new ones at every meal.

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The only things unavoidable in life are Death, Taxes and Change. This change may not be so bad. We have had some great table companions in our cruises but I have also enjoyed the open seating for breakfast and lunch where you can meet new people every day. I think that the kitchen will get used to the new system and work out any kinks that currently exist.

The down side to open seating can be found with NCL. We have friends that only cruise with NCL and they now are mentioning that with 6 restaurants 3 change extra, and the quality of the food in the free restaurants seems to be declining. The conclusion is that if you want a good meal you will pay extra for it. I hope HAL does not venture down this path.

On the Diamond Princess they had a revolving concept and standard seating. The waiter told us that standard seating had a hugh wait list after a few days from those who did not like the revolving concept. I think that the cruise lines want to go to this new system to accomodate a younger clientele, who want more flexible dining and more casual dress.

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Ruth, Sharon & Willie..I hear you & also empathize with you all..And give you all a great deal of credit traveling alone..I honestly believe I would give up cruising if I had to travel alone...

Often traveled solo on business & hated it..Never went to a good Restaurant by myself..Would only go to the Hotel coffee shop or order room service..Even when I was single & lived alone for many years would only go to a resataurant or movie with Friends..

Now DH & I mostly travel with Friends & always request a table for 8 at FIXED late seating.. We've always enjoyed our tablemates..If we don't have assigned seating the four of us will normally sit by ourselves...I too dislike having to sit with new people every day & trying to make small talk.."where are you from" "are you enjoying your cruise" etc etc..:rolleyes:

However, we tried the NCL Crown (small ship) two years ago & it was terrific..Never had to wait more than 5 minutes for a table in the main dining room & that was between 7-7:30...The two couples had a table for 4 most nights, except two or three nights when we ate with the Cruise Critic people..We had a wonderful time with the CC folks..Now we're all trying Oceania, in Nov. also open seating & will see how it works out..

Cheers..:) Betty

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Maybe we'll watch it for a while, and if it seems like we won't be contributing to a problem, we may try AYW a day or two on the Panama Canal cruise. It looks like AYW will be with us, based on the excellent info InTheWASide posted, but it also looks like we may still have confirmed seating -- if we book our cruises early enough :rolleyes: . Like Ruth, I wouldn't like not having a choice because what I wanted was already fully booked.

Dave

If you dine at a table for two, with your wife, Dave, there is no difference between the two forms of dining. Same holds true for those traveling with others. All you need to do is reserve the same table for the same time, every evening.

For all the obvious reasons, solo travelors will most likely prefer traditional seating.

I am thinking that passengers are becoming increasingly gun shy about sharing their dinner table with strangers . And I am thinking this is true for passengers of all ages and HAL experience. So many regulars, on this board will not share a table with strangers, the backbone of traditional dining. It's speculation on my part, but I do think it more than reasonable that this trend was factored into HAL's decision to create a more flexible dining venue. There just are not enough of us clammoring for 8-10 top tables.

Lastly, at least on the Noordam, the Lido was open till at least 9:00 PM every evening, substantially later than we have seen in the past unless the ship is in port, late.

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Some of the things I love about cruising are not having to think about where or when I'm having dinner and meeting interesting people and getting to know them by sharing dinner with them each evening. I've never particulairly enjoyed open seating breakfast and lunch, making small talk with people I will probably never see again on a large ship. Breakfast and lunch are minor issues because we generally don't go to the dining room anymore for these meals. Dinner is a huge issue. I also empathize with RuthC. and Sharon and anyone else who sails alone. We sail as a cuple and feel the same way. We eat alone at home, that's not why we cruise. I will not book our 2008 cruise on HAL. Last year we were waitlisted for late seating almost until sailing time. I would be really upset if I couldn't get a confirmed dining time when the alternative was AYW.

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I was really glad when I found out the Nordam had Anytime Dining. We booked late and I knew we would never get early seating. My parents don't eat late plus we are from the east coast so I thought we would be eating in the Ledo every night. Atleast we have a chance at eating early. When my parents were on the Veendam the also landed up with late seating and couldn't get it changed once on board. They just showed up at early seating and asked to be seated at any table with two empty seats. They got a table everytime and sat with different people everynight. This time it will be four of us and I knew that trick wouldn't work as well.

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If you dine at a table for two, with your wife, Dave, there is no difference between the two forms of dining. ...

I am thinking that passengers are becoming increasingly gun shy about sharing their dinner table with strangers ... There just are not enough of us clammoring for 8-10 top tables.

hammybee,

Thanks for the words of encouragment! DW and I usually ask for a table for 6. Our thinking probably reflects those others who also ask for a 6-person table: "Well, we've got an even chance we'll like one of the couples, and if one couple dines in the Pinnacle or Lido one night, we'll still have dining companions." Of course, the others are probably also thinking of us, "I hope they're not jerks!" so you never know :rolleyes: .

Shyness is not usually our problem. We're generally outgoing and inquisitve about our fellow cruisers: which reminds me of the old first/second/third person jokes, such as "I appreciate fine vintages, you drink a bit too much, he is a wino." ("We are fascinated by the backgrounds of our dining companions, you are inquisitive, they are nosy and prying ...")

Sometimes, of course, the inner curmudgeon surfaces after a long day and it would be nice not to have to do that whole convivial bit, but a pre-dinner cocktail served by the superb Filipino bar staff helps on those days, and we generally genuinely enjoy the company of people of different backgrounds and experiences, which is one of the reasons we go on cruise. Such interesting people! (OK, sometimes what jerks, too -- honesty here).

To reveal my Irish-American ancestry: we often are first to table, and on those days we often take different seats to have the other four go into different seating patterns to facilitate different conversations from the night before -- I've already heard that he rebuilt the engine in his '57 Chevy and enjoyed the discussion, but I would also like to hear what she thinks of Paris (and I don't mean Hilton :D) and the Louvre . Is that being stimulating, a joker or a pain in the *#$? Depends on if it is first, second or third person! It's that tendency to look for different converstations that leads me to think we might actually enjoy AYW, so long as the pain in the @*$ factor doesn't overcome the novelty and variety.

Thanks again. I'll let you all know what we thought if we do the AYW this fall on Noordam.

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Ruth, Sharon & Willie..I hear you & also empathize with you all..And give you all a great deal of credit traveling alone..I honestly believe I would give up cruising if I had to travel alone...

Often traveled solo on business & hated it..Never went to a good Restaurant by myself..Would only go to the Hotel coffee shop or order room service..Even when I was single & lived alone for many years would only go to a resataurant or movie with Friends..

Cheers..:) Betty

Solo business trips were never fun for me either especially when the hotel didn't have room service. Driving thru a fast food place and then eating it in a hotel room was not my idea of fun but it's often what I had to settle for. At least I could call my DH and talk to him while we ate!

I hope you never find yourself in my position but if by chance you do you will probably be surprised by what you find you are able to do when you have to. Cruising seems to me the best way to travel when alone and it certainly beats spending vacation time alone at home (weekends give me plenty of alone time as it is!). I think the reason I'm so concerned about this next trip is that it's the longest cruise I've ever taken and the chance of having to deal with eating alone every night for almost 3 weeks may be too much. At this point I'm going to wait and see if I can get fixed dining confirmed by the time my final payment is due. If not I'll have to re-evaluate the trip before I make that payment. It's a trip I've always wanted to make but it sure would have been nice if they'd waited to make the change on the trip after I'm booked!

That being said I can see why this new arrangement would be nice for groups that are traveling together and would be eating together anyway. But they need to come up with someway to ensure that everyone gets what they want.

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To reveal my Irish-American ancestry: we often are first to table, and on those days we often take different seats to have the other four go into different seating patterns to facilitate different conversations from the night before -- I've already heard that he rebuilt the engine in his '57 Chevy and enjoyed the discussion, but I would also like to hear what she thinks of Paris (and I don't mean Hilton :D) and the Louvre . Is that being stimulating, a joker or a pain in the *#$? Depends on if it is first, second or third person! It's that tendency to look for different converstations that leads me to think we might actually enjoy AYW, so long as the pain in the @*$ factor doesn't overcome the novelty and variety.

Dave

We have tired the chair switcheroo because Maury is still yaking about Tuesdays on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. One of the other couples had a (mad) cow about it and that we dared to take their chairs. Oh how I wish AYW was available on that cruise. :)

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I think the reason I'm so concerned about this next trip is that it's the longest cruise I've ever taken and the chance of having to deal with eating alone every night for almost 3 weeks may be too much. At this point I'm going to wait and see if I can get fixed dining confirmed by the time my final payment is due. If not I'll have to re-evaluate the trip before I make that payment. It's a trip I've always wanted to make but it sure would have been nice if they'd waited to make the change on the trip after I'm booked!

Let me try to put your mind at ease.

I too am a solo traveler. None of my friends care to cruise, and the ones that would have no money. For that reason, most of the cruises I take are as a solo.

I too am not crazy about anytime dining as a solo, but after talking to several people working in the dining room onboard HAL ships, I've come to accept that it may not be as bad as we think it will be. People will come into the dining room, most wanting to be seated with their party. However, in many cases they are going to have to wait for a table in order to do that. Waiting may mean missing the show or some other activity they want to do. So, most will gladly allow themselves to be seated at a large table that they will share with others. That is where you will be seated unless you ask for a table alone. You rarely should have to eat by yourself unless the dining room is particularly empty one night. And even then, the Matri 'd will supposedly try to seat someone with you if that's what you wish.

The main disadvantage I see to anytime dining is that you will lose the opportunity to form lasting bonds with your tablemates and waitstaff. Especially on a longer cruise I find that dinnertime actually becomes an event to look forward to. You all know each other after a couple of days into the cruise, and it's kind of fun to meet up each night and talk about how you spent your day. With open seating dining, you're not gonna get that because chances are you will be sitting with different people every night.

Of course, on the flip side of that coin, at least open seating dining prevents you from getting "stuck" with a bad tablemate for the entire cruise. You eat with them once and then probably will never be seated with them again.

I loved open dining on the QE2. But then I was traveling with someone on that cruise, so there was no need to eat alone. However, Cunard does their open dining a bit differently. You have an assigned table and may even have others assigned to the same table. You also have the same waitstaff every night. It's just that you have a window of time to show up in the dining room, and that's the only thing that differentiates Cunard's open dining from HAL's fixed dining.

I'm going to try to keep an open mind with HAL's "As You Wish" dining format. I'll try it on the next cruise where I am traveling solo. If I don't care for it, or I find that I am spending too many meals alone, guess I'll be looking for a new cruise line of choice. But at least from what people tell me, it shouldn't work out that way.

Blue skies ...

--rita

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I am thinking that passengers are becoming increasingly gun shy about sharing their dinner table with strangers . And I am thinking this is true for passengers of all ages and HAL experience. So many regulars, on this board will not share a table with strangers, the backbone of traditional dining.

I'm thinking the same thing.

I've heard that it's hard to attract new cruisers specifically because of fixed seating dining. A lot of people today don't like getting "friendly" with strangers, and they certainly don't want to dine every night with people not in their traveling group. It's just not something they are used to. Let's face it, when you go out for dinner with a group of friends or family, would you tolerate the waiter seating you at a table with another family? Of course, not. You want your own table and you want to dine with your group exclusvely. So naturally when you go on a cruise, you expect the same treatment, and it's a real put off to some people to be told that they will have to dine with strangers. That's why I think these more flexible dining options are cropping up ... specifically to satisfy these people, who are becoming a majority. Now with flexible dining, they could insist on their own table, and if they are willing to possibly wait a bit if the dining room is full, they will certainly get it.

Blue skies ...

--rita

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Probably everyone already knows this, but I just noticed something when I was checking out a cruise for February on the Oosterdam. It shows the 4 dining times fixed and then it says open seating as another option.

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We'll be going on the Noordam after lots of Princess cruises, most with Personal Choice dining. We were choosing to go on HAL "in spite" of the fixed seating :o... my thoughts...

we love being able to choose anytime to eat. As far as waiting, almost never happened, even when we picked the most popular times - usually around 7pm. As far as traveling solo - if you meet people on your roll call you could arrange to stay in touch on the ship and then meet them for dinner... I've had the pleasure with some people I've met online and it really enhanced the cruising experience for me not just for them!! With AYW, although you'd never be eating alone exactly, you might feel that way at times if everyone else at your table happened to already know each other. I usually travel with my husband but we've been at tables where all the other people knew each other ahead of time or had been together on an excursion and we've felt left out of the conversations... it can happen... but that can happen with traditional dining too.

For those who want "As You Wish" it's nice that they have a choice. What isn't nice is for those who want traditional, fixed dining to be denied that option because there aren't sufficient tables allocated to it. They're not getting what they wish.

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Unfortunately "it" all became too clear to me over the past year. Eventually most of those that don't "get it" now will.

Sharon, I now "get it", and certainly empathize with you. I didn't understand before, I appreciate that you and Ruth C. explained so clearly your reasons for preferring fixed dining. It's all much more clear to me now.

DH and I usually ask for a table for 2 -- not because we're unsocial, just because at the end of a day in port we're just too exhausted to make small talk :o The times we have been seated with others we always had a great time though! We haven't experienced AYW dining yet, and hope that by that time all the kinks will have been ironed out :rolleyes:

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My understanding is that the "Anytime Dining" option, currently in its experimental phase on the Oosterdam and Noordam during their Alaska runs, will spread to the entire fleet by the end of the year. The main dining room will offer traditonal fixed seating on deck 3, and the new "As You Wish" or "Anytime Dining" on deck 2.

Anyone have more definite info?

My husband and I just took our first cruise ever (on the Noordam) to Alaska on 6/17. This is all new to me, and I would like to first say that I enjoyed browsing this website before (and after) our cruise, and I sincerely hope I am even answering this correctly (!) - In response to "As you wish dining" - I would like to say that upon embarkation we were given room key cards that clearly stated that we had Open Dining, Vista Dining Room on Deck 2, 5:15 pm to 9:00 pm. That first night we arrived at the Vista Dining Room promptly at 5 pm. I won't bore anyone with the details but the Dining Room did not open until after 6 pm and we were then told that there was no such thing as Open Dining. (We were not the only people with the same problem). When we finally (another story in itself!) found someone to help us, we were given a little sticker to put on our room key card and our time was changed to 6 pm and we were designated a table.

Unfortunately, when we bought the cruise it was specifically because we WANTED open dining, it was offered, and we truly felt that was what we purchased. However, we felt there was nothing we could do but make sure we were there at 6 pm, or eat elsewhere.

The next night, (a formal night, and we did not dine in the dining room that night) we received a post card in our mailbox when we arrived back at our room from dining in the Lido telling us that we were now moved to Deck 3, 7:45 seating. That was more to our liking! We arrived at the dining room at 7:45 and showed the wait staff our post card and were promptly seated....and then promptly questioned by no less than 3 different wait staff. Each time we had to show our post card, and each time someone new came to question us. We were finally led, menus in hand, to another table (table for four) where we were less than welcomed by the couple who already sat there - we could only assume they were not happy with the new intruders (us). My husband and I made sure to fill out our comment card specifically about the dining problem. We decided we were much more comfortable with the service in the Lido as we were not afraid someone was going to move us again.

As a side note, even though we had proof in our hands (the original room key, and then a green sticker, and then a post card) the wait staff made us feel as though WE had made the mistake and NEVER once did we get an apology.

So....I guess I would have to say if you have something that says "As you Wish" or "Open Dining", be sure to question it.

Shari

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I truly understand and empathize with those of you who would rather not to have to worry about your dining situation. It's a part of what traditional cruising has always been about, especially the part about the wait-staff getting familiar with your particular likes and dislikes and the relationship that develops during your voyage. That said, with the present-day options (other places to go for dinner) on the ship, I think the issue of arriving at your assigned table only to find that your table-mates are eating elsewhere is one that can't be overstated. Frankly, if I were traveling solo, my concern for ending up at a large table alone - even if only for part of the meal - or even if I were then moved to another table for the meal - would outweigh the issue of meeting new people each night. With AYW a person would never end up dealing with an empty table because of no-shows. With traditional, I am sure that your wait-staff (who know you are traveling solo) would most certainly try to fix it, but wouldn't you then still be eating with people you didn't know? Our experience with Traditional has been that people sometimes show up at dinner and sometimes don't... hey, they're on vacation... but if I am in the mood to sit with a large group of people and have lively scintillating dinner conversation, sitting at a table for 8 with just one other couple wouldn't fit the bill.

I'm glad that there will be both options. I do hope, though, that they will work out the kinks mentioned above soon!!:eek: I think that there should be a specific priority rating for solo travelers who wish to have Traditional dining. One would think that the line would recognize the benefit of this and make accommodations (although I of course have no idea how the logistics of that would work). HAL has one of the better single supplement deals going (I've often been tempted) so maybe they'll figure out that there are significant numbers of solo passengers that should be accommodated if they want to keep them as customers.

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Re the new dining room options, even though I do not sail solo, my wife and I prefer the more traditional set times, so we get to know our servers and, especially on a longer cruise, develop a rapport with them. That gracious service I think improves with familiarity, as the staff gets to know customer preference over a cruise. But, many folks seem to want the "choice" of any time dining. I applaud HAL for offering both, so as not to annoy both groups of customers.

But, how do those who have legitimate reason for wanting a set time confirmed before the cancellation date make it work for them? I have a suggestion: we have always insisted upon a table for two for dinner, 8 0'clock main upper. We have always received this, starting from our very first cruise. This is because I insist that our travel agent contact HAL and go up the chain of command until a supervisor is found to confirm the request, in advance. Then I print and keep that email so, if any problems arise on board (never has happened) I am prepared. While we are now 100 + with HAL, we were not always. Certainly those with higher Mariner status have even more of an edge, if that card is played.

If you prefer to deal with HAL directly, there is an onboard services department with supervisory level staff who can assist--just call the 800 number and request assistance--and don't take "no" for an answer from the call centre person who does not have authority to approve this. Better still, as your TA is paid a commission, let him/her do the work.

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My husband and I just took our first cruise ever (on the Noordam) to Alaska on 6/17. This is all new to me' date=' and I would like to first say that I enjoyed browsing this website before (and after) our cruise, and I sincerely hope I am even answering this correctly (!) - In response to "As you wish dining" - I would like to say that upon embarkation we were given room key cards that clearly stated that we had Open Dining, Vista Dining Room on Deck 2, 5:15 pm to 9:00 pm. That first night we arrived at the Vista Dining Room promptly at 5 pm. I won't bore anyone with the details but the Dining Room did not open until after 6 pm and we were then told that there was no such thing as Open Dining. (We were not the only people with the same problem). When we finally (another story in itself!) found someone to help us, we were given a little sticker to put on our room key card and our time was changed to 6 pm and we were designated a table.

Unfortunately, when we bought the cruise it was specifically because we WANTED open dining, it was offered, and we truly felt that was what we purchased. However, we felt there was nothing we could do but make sure we were there at 6 pm, or eat elsewhere.

The next night, (a formal night, and we did not dine in the dining room that night) we received a post card in our mailbox when we arrived back at our room from dining in the Lido telling us that we were now moved to Deck 3, 7:45 seating. That was more to our liking! We arrived at the dining room at 7:45 and showed the wait staff our post card and were promptly seated....and then promptly questioned by no less than 3 different wait staff. Each time we had to show our post card, and each time someone new came to question us. We were finally led, menus in hand, to another table (table for four) where we were less than welcomed by the couple who already sat there - we could only assume they were not happy with the new intruders (us). My husband and I made sure to fill out our comment card specifically about the dining problem. We decided we were much more comfortable with the service in the Lido as we were not afraid someone was going to move us again.

As a side note, even though we had proof in our hands (the original room key, and then a green sticker, and then a post card) the wait staff made us feel as though WE had made the mistake and NEVER once did we get an apology.

So....I guess I would have to say if you have something that says "As you Wish" or "Open Dining", be sure to question it.

Shari[/quote]

So sorry to hear you had such a mess in the Dining Room...

This is so unlike HAL & do hope that they get these things worked out so everyone will receive what they really want..

In any event Post No. 12 on this same thread..IntheWASide posted an e-mail received from HAL giving the schedule of when all the ships will be implementing Any time dining..It says that the Noordam has implemented it, but it looks like it was not in effect on your cruise..

We've found HAL's service to be excellent in the DR & hope that it continues to be excellent...Betty

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This is so unlike HAL & do hope that they get these things worked out so everyone will receive what they really want..

In any event Post No. 12 on this same thread..IntheWASide posted an e-mail received from HAL giving the schedule of when all the ships will be implementing Any time dining..It says that the Noordam has implemented it, but it looks like it was not in effect on your cruise..

We've found HAL's service to be excellent in the DR & hope that it continues to be excellent...Betty

Betty,

Thank you for your response! I wish we had met someone like you onboard-especially in the dining room! We decided we will not let what happened to us this one time to influence our opinion of HAL (we are pretty much what you call second chance people). We were actually looking forward to meeting tablemates and having our waiter get to know us once we found out that there was no such thing as open dining, but we were moved around too much to experience that.(By the way, the people that ended up with us actually understood OUR frustration by the time it was over with). How is HAL with answering the comment cards? Has anyone had a response to a concern?

Shari

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Both LaffinVegas and Middle-aged Mom were on your cruise. They had early Traditional seating and given the size of the group onboard, I was surprised that they got the seating and type of dining they wanted. Heck, I am surprised when anyone gets early traditional seating, nowdays.

It's speculation on my part when I say that the reason why AYW dining was not available was that the entire venue may have been reserved for the large group. It is the opposite of what so many on this board (who prefer traditional) dining, fear.

It seems as though whenever something inconsistent occurs onboard, there seems to be a group accommodation behind it.

I am sorry for your dissappointment, given you booked this ship, to take advantage of AYW Dining.

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But, how do those who have legitimate reason for wanting a set time confirmed before the cancellation date make it work for them? I have a suggestion: we have always insisted upon a table for two for dinner, 8 0'clock main upper. We have always received this, starting from our very first cruise. This is because I insist that our travel agent contact HAL and go up the chain of command until a supervisor is found to confirm the request, in advance. Then I print and keep that email so, if any problems arise on board (never has happened) I am prepared. While we are now 100 + with HAL, we were not always. Certainly those with higher Mariner status have even more of an edge, if that card is played.Hope this helps. Happy cruising.

We didn't have a problem. We e-mailed the ship coordinator with a request for a table for 2 at 8:00pm and she sent the dinning room seating chart and asked us to pick a table. Once confirmed by the dinning room manager, we received a Word Doc letter confirmation. This is only our second time on HAL.